Yeah I had a chance to speak with the folks at APS and said you might want to get rid of this league partnership. With the match fixing and apparently Interpol going to do something somewhat soon (from what I was told) it probably wouldn't be good to be associated. Then the official CSA dropping them came out and forwarded the info over. As for the League 1 thing that Ontario is doing with the lowered standards....have you been to a CSL match? I think the worst NPSL/PDL groups were much much much more professional. Yes you may not believe me, but I've coached in both all of this level. Unless it was an Ethnic Rivalry match, there might be 5 people in the stands. Hopefully they listened, but who knows. Then you get into the non-pay for players and the ridiculous match fixing. I honestly couldn't believe what I saw during games when I was working for one of the teams. I just thought this is Canada so it's weird here....that is until one of the other coaches showed me that games were bet on. Then it all made sense. Hopefully Matt and his group in the ASL can steer the ship and navigate away from the CSL as quickly as possible.
http://www.aslsoccer.us/index.php/news#09 THE NEW ENGLAND FORCE JOIN THE ASL The American Soccer League (ASL) is delighted to announce that the New England Force have joined the league. The club can be found at www.newenglandforce.usand also on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
As a fan of the long-departed Cleveland Force, who still misses them greatly, it annoys me that someone nicked their name. Somehow, I fantasized that someday, Cleveland would get into MLS and revive the Force name. Oh, well... ------RM
Current list of ASL teams: (Lynn, MA) Mass United (Newark, NJ) NJ Gladiators (Pitman, NJ) Philadelphia Fury (Leesburg, VA) Evergreen Diplomats (Stamford, CT) New England Force
since I work in Stamford I'm still trying to figure out where there is a soccer facility here which holds 5200 seats...should be an interesting revelation.
Leesburg? Wow. Missed that. They're holding tryouts this weekend. Site tba. http://www.evergreendiplomats.com/
ASL President and CEO Matt Driver will be on a radio show Sunday April 13 : https://twitter.com/PhillyFuryASL/status/454336084827471872
only 25 folks show up for your tryout...call it a success...or whatever SUCCESSFUL April 12th & 13th PRO TRIAL! Evergreen Diplomats held a successful Tryout! ! Do you have what it takes? The Evergreen Diplomats held a small initial trial this past weekend at the state of the art Evergreen Sportsplex for about 25 participants . Players in attendance were that of MLS, USL, MISL, PASL and European experience with many showing well enough to catch the eye of the Staff and Coach Richie Burke. We look forward to our next trial in mid May as we look to shape the roster for the August ASL League Start Date. Details of the May trial will be posted in the coming days! If you think you have what it takes to play at the professional level, let the Evergreen Diplomats staff evaluate you for the possibility. We also encourage all to visit the ASL League website for details on the Combine set for April 30th - May 2nd.
Lemme guess, by "MLS experience" they mean a guy who was in some MLS team's preseason camp for a week?
Could someone explain to me what USASA sanctioning means? Are they basically a NPSL/PDL type amatuer setup? Why does Matt keep calling things Philly and then puts them in buttsville South Jersey?
My guess is that they could not, at this juncture, actually meet USSF's professional division standards (the ones that apply to all professional leagues, outside the specific ones for D2), so seeking USSF sanctioning as a D3 league would be problematic. And USSF only recognizes professional leagues in Divisions I, II and III. So USASA can give its blessing to a league (which I'm guessing has a lower threshold) and that's what they've done. Says USASA: USASA rules provide for regional and national leagues as members of USASA. Regional leagues are designed to promote a higher level of competition that in-state leagues. A regional league must have a minimum of six teams domiciled in no fewer than three NSAs within the same administrative region. USASA currently has two men’s regional leagues in Region I. For leagues whose membership spans more than one region, USASA offers a national league. USASA currently has two men’s national leagues and one women’s national league. National leagues have no minimum number of teams or NSAs. The Premier Division of the USL, the National Premier Soccer League and the Women’s Premier Soccer League. Yes, the last sentence is just a fragment. I'm guessing it should finish "are the national leagues." So the PDL, NPSL and WPSL are their top leagues. Where they put the ASL or APS or whatever it calls itself...I guess a regional league? And the second question I can't answer for you.
Can you imagine what would happen if one of these teams stunned an MLS side? It would be Hiroshima revisited.
No, I was comparing to an upset of this magnitude in the USOC to an atomic bomb going off. Or hydrogen.
These teams are in a USASA National league, which is still a step up from where Cal FC was when they beat the Timbers in 2012. That was a big story in the lead-up to their next game, sure. Hiroshima? Not quite. Other USASA National leagues include the PDL and the NPSL. Was it "Hiroshima" when the Mid-Michigan Bucks beat the Fire in 2012? Did you even know that the Mid-Michigan Bucks beat the Fire in 2012? If not, why would you think this would be any different?
Brand new bush league, brand new bush upstarts. I am convinced that this will be history exploding before our very eyes. Bart Scott.